"Thanks to lower fuel costs and a proliferation of travel bargains, Americans are expected to hit the roads this Memorial Day weekend in bigger numbers than last year.

Last summer’s energy shock drove gasoline prices well above $4 a gallon and forced people to cut back on driving. Then oil prices plunged, and the stratospheric cost of a gallon of gas became a dim memory. But gasoline has been rising rapidly in recent weeks.

Gasoline is selling for an average of $2.33 a gallon, up from $2.06 just last month, according to AAA, the automobile club, and a steep rise from the recent low of $1.67 a gallon in December. A cutback in refining production and the expected rebound in driving this weekend are helping to push up prices at the pump."